Penholder



Patented July 15, 1924.

Pareri'r orrlcs.-

GEORGE R. VESTAL, OF OWENSBORO, KENTUCKY.

PENHO'LDER.

v -Applcaton filed September 28, 1922. Serial No. 591,100.

To all whom t may concern.' Be it known that I, l(iconen R. .Vns'rAL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Qwensboro, in the county of Daviess and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Penholders, of which the following is a specification. i This invention relates to pen holders and seeks to provide a pen holder, the cost Vof which will be very little, if any, greater than the ordinary pen holder now in con'nnon use and which will be provided with means whereby rolling of the pen about a desk or other fiat surface will be prevented. The invention also has for its object the provision of a pen holder which may b e placed upon a desk or other writingA surface while ink remains upon the pen wit-hout liability of the ink being brought into contact with exposed papers or other objects. The stated objects of the invention and other objects which will incidentally appear in the course of the following description are attained in such a device as is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and the invention resides in certain novel features which will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

ln the'V drawings- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a pen holder constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 9; is a similar view showing the pen holder lying upon a fiat surface but supporting Ithe pen out of contact with said surface;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal section through the end of t-he device, and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the fingers which prevent the rolling; of the pen holder and illustrating the sleeve which controls said fingers pulled back so as to permit the fingers to act.

The pen holder may be constructed of wood or other material and is of the general formation shown at 1, being the tapered circular shank or handle now generally used.

At the forward end of the handle 1, I provide a tenon 2 and secured upon said tenon in anyY convenient or preferred manner is a bushing or sleeve 3 which projects beyond the tenon and is provided at its outer end with an annular stop flange 4. Vithin the sleeve or bushing 3 are provided the usual resilient fingers 5 which are adapted to hold the pen 6 within the holder in the usual manner. Upon the outer surface of thev sleeve 3 are mounted fingers 7 vwhich are of resilient metal and entendi, longitudinally of the sleeve, as clearly shown, the outer ends of said fingers being free while the inner ends thereof are secured to the sleeve by brazing or any other preferred means. It will be readily :noted that the inner ends of the sleeve and of the fingers abut the annular shoulder 8 provided upon the handle l by the formation of the tenon 2. An outer' i sleeve 9 is slidably fitted upon the end of the handle and is of such length that its inner end may encircle the handle while its outer end will abut the stop flange 4, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. rlhis operating sleeve 9 may be constructed of rubber, cork, wood, or any other material which will be light and durable and comfortable to the fingers of the user. To prevent excessive wear upon the said sleeve by the resilient fingers, a lining sleeve 10 of metal is fitted within the bo-re of the said sleeve, as shown clearly in Fig. 3, and the free ends of the fingers 7 bear against this lining. It will also be noted that the lining should be of such diameter that it may readily extend over the end of the handle and the shoulder 8 should be of such width that ample clearance will be provided to prevent the fingers bea-ring against the lining with excessive force and thereby interfering with the free operation of the parts.

When the pen holder is in use, the outer o erating sleeve 9 will be in its forward position shown in Fig. 1 and will compress and house the resilient fingers. Then the writing is completed or interrupted and the penis to be put aside, the sleeve is retracted, as shown in Fig. 2, whereupon the fingers 7 ,will assume positions projecting from the inner sleeve 3, as clearly shown in Fig. 2 and by dotted lines in Fig. 3, so that if the holder be then placed upon the surface of a desk or writing table, the ends of the fingers will bear upon said surface and will cause tilting of the holder, as shown in Fig. 2, whereby the pen will be held out of contact with the writing surface. The fingers are preferably spaced ninetyl degrees apart and, therefore, they will be disposed in substantially rectangular relation so that, when the pen holder is put aside, two of thefingers will engage the surface upon which the holder is placed and rotation or rolling of the holder will be thereby prevented. In-

asrnueh as the pen Will be supported above the Writing surface and the pen holder cannot roll around upon the same, Contact between the pen with ink thereon and papers or other objects cannot occur. The device is exceedingly' simple and can he produced at a very low oost and may he used as freely and as extensively as the ordinary pen holders now employed Without causing any additional fatigue to the user.

Having thus described the invention, What is claimed as new is:

l. A pen holder provided at its forward end with spring lingers adapted tol project from the holder and engagea surface upon which the holder may he placed, and a sleeve fitted upon the end of the holder and adapted to house said lingers and maintain them in inoperative position.

2. A pen holder provided at its forward end With longitudinally extending resilient fingers secured at their inner ends to the holder and having their free ends adjacent the forward end of the holder to support said end out of Contact with the surface upon which the holder may rest.

3. A pen holder comprising` a handle, a sleeve secured to the end of the handle and extending longitudinally therefrom and provided at its outer end with a stop flange, means Within said sleeve for gripping a pen, an outer sleeve slidably fitted upon the handie and adapted to abut the stop vflange on vthe iirst-inentioned sleeve,and resilient iingers secured upon the inner sleeve in spaced relation and adapted to be compressed and housed by the outer sleeve in a forward p0- sition of the latter 'and project laterally beyond the sameiwhen said sleeve is retracted` In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

GEORGE n. VvEsTAL. [L s j 

